The U.S. government’s 2023 fiscal year ends at the end of the month.  Does this excite you?

It should.  Assuming you care about the reliability of your dollar-based savings, investments, and what Uncle Sam does with the taxes you pay.

The Treasury won’t release the full fiscal year statement until mid-October.  Though, it appears the 2023 fiscal year deficit will be just under $2 trillion – nearly double last year.

Why is there such a gaping deficit at a time when there’s low unemployment and economic growth?  Is countercyclical stimulus spending now the standard operating procedure of the U.S. government?  What would happen if all this deficit spending was eliminated?

This week the Treasury released the spending tally through the first 11 months of the fiscal year.  Over this period, the federal government has taken in $3.97 trillion in receipts.  However, it has spent $5.49 trillion.  The cumulative deficit through 11 months is over $1.5 trillion.

Of the 11 months reported so far, there were deficits for every month except April and August.  In April, following the collection of individual income tax returns, the federal government eked out a surplus of $176 billion. Continue reading →